‘No, and neither was it mine.’
‘So what are you saying, girl?’ His tone was low, as though he was fighting to keep control. ‘Are you blaming your mother for dying?’
His words knocked the stuffing out of her — she deflated like a balloon. Feeling tears prickle in her eyes, she blinked them back. She wouldn’t let him see her cry.
‘No, of course not,’ she whispered.
‘Because that’s what it sounds like to me.’
‘I didn’t mean it like that, Dad. Mum died thirteen years ago and we’ve all had to deal with that. What I meant was, Mum dying changed everything for me.’
He almost snarled. ‘And it didn’t for the rest of us?’
‘No, but now I’m finally doing something I’ve always wanted to do and I want to concentrate on it. All I’m asking for is a little bit of help in running the house.’
‘I’ll help, Anna, you know I will,’ Harry said. Anna looked on him fondly. She knew he felt guilty — he was being given achance she’d never had, but she wanted him to make the most of that opportunity.
‘I think everyone should,’ she said, glaring at Jack.
‘You’ve changed since you got that job,’ Jack said. ‘Think you’re so high and mighty now you’re mixing with celebrities. Too good for us, are you?’
‘No, but I’m fed up of being your skivvy and I was fed up long before I got this job. What’s wrong with you all helping out around the house? Just because Mum did everything for you doesn’t mean I should have to. Cooking and cleaning aren’t just women’s work, you know. You’re such a chauvinist.’
‘Anna, that’s enough.’ Her dad took Jack’s side, as she’d known he would.
Jack laughed, completely unperturbed by her words. ‘Bet you’re doing the boss like you did in your last job. And look how well that ended.’
‘And that’s enough from you, Jack.’ Andrew finally rounded on his eldest son. ‘All this arguing is getting us nowhere. And I for one am hungry.’ He stared at Anna meaningfully. ‘So, what’s for tea?’
Anna stared at him dumbfounded. All she’d said hadn’t meant a thing. Nothing was ever going to change. He just didn’t care.
‘I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll find plenty in the freezer. I’ve lost my appetite.’
She barged past Jack and ran up the stairs to her bedroom. Only when she was safely inside, with the door firmly shut, did she allow the tears to spill over. And, when they did, they came in torrents, soaking the pillow that muffled her anguish.
Chapter Nine
‘Damn, damn, damn.’ Anna sat up in bed and realised she was late.Of all the days!She and Daniel were doing a shoot in Leicester Square, a promotion of the iconic bronze film-star statues outside the cinema. Only yesterday Daniel had impressed on her the importance of getting there early, before too many members of the public were around, getting in the way of the shots. They’d arranged to meet at seven o’clock, but it was nearly that time now. She hurled herself across the landing and into the shower, avoiding getting her hair wet so she didn’t have to dry it. Instead she scraped it back into a ponytail and threw on yesterday’s clothes, the nearest ones she could find.
At the station luck was with her and she managed to run onto a train just before it left the station. Predictably there were no seats left, so she stood at the end of the aisle, hanging on to a metal pole as the train rumbled towards central London. As she caught her breath she reached in her bag for her phone. There were two missed calls from Daniel and a voicemail. Her blood ran cold as she listened to it — he was instructing her to meet him at the location rather than his house, because if he didn’t leave now there would be no shoot at all. She’d be lucky if she still had a job by the end of today.
* * *
Daniel lugged the equipment into his car, cursing Anna as he did so. In times gone by this would have been perfectly natural to him, but recently he had got used to her being by his side. It was unfamiliar not to have her here today. He’d been predisposed not to like her when he’d first taken her on, but he had to admit that, over the last few weeks, she’d proved him wrong. She was hard-working and perceptive. She had a feel for photography, which had surprised him, and which helped a great deal — sheseemed to instinctively know what he needed. Until today she had always been punctual. Sod’s law that when he really needed her to be in on time, she was late. She couldn’t have picked a worse moment. And to top it all, it was a damp grey day, which would make getting the good shots even harder, especially if the models were grumpy. He’d just have to hope the weather brightened by the time he got there, and that there weren’t too many people around. And he’d have to hope that Anna got there soon, because he would need her to help set up as quickly as possible. He cursed her again. Why did she have to choose today of all days to be late?
When he arrived and parked up, he was glad to see the weather meant Leicester Square was relatively quiet, but there was still no sign of Anna. Some of the models had arrived, shivering despite the thick coats they were wearing. He’d start with some of the easy shots first, with the models cosying up to the statues of Paddington Bear and Mr Bean that were posed sitting on benches. Suddenly Anna arrived, breathing heavily as she’d obviously been running. She was wearing yesterday’s clothes, had her hair scraped back into a haphazard ponytail and was wearing no make-up. No guesses what she’d been up to.
‘I’m so sorry, Daniel,’ she said between gasps. ‘I overslept and—’
He held up his hand. ‘I don’t want to hear it. You’ve obviously had a boozy night out and certainly not got home, judging by the look of you, but I can’t have your social life interfering with work. Work has to come first and if you’re not going to be committed to that, I suggest you find yourself another job.’
‘No, I am committed. It’s just that my alarm didn’t—’
‘I told you I don’t want to hear your excuses. There isn’t time. The light isn’t great and the locals are starting to get curious. We need to get this shoot in the bag as soon as possible. The imageshave to be delivered first thing Monday morning and we’re going to have a hell of a job editing them if the weather doesn’t improve.’
‘Of course.’ She lowered her head. ‘What do you need?’
‘I’m going to do some shots on the benches, but I need you to set up some steps next to Mary Poppins and then Gene Kelly, so that the models can be at the same height. Can you manage that?’
